This
is the second week in ordinary time. Originally the Liturgical Year was
simply 52 Sundays, 52 celebrations of the Paschal Mystery, in which the
Mystery of Faith was proclaimed: “Christ has died, Christ is
risen, Christ will come again.” In the second century the Feast
of Easter was established. Then in the fourth century the Feast of Christmas
was established. Then there slowly developed for each of these feasts
a period of preparation (Advent and Lent) and a period of celebration
(Christmastide and Eastertide). So we have the two liturgical seasons
of Christmas and Easter.

Between these two seasons there is Ordinary
Time. Not Ordinary in the ordinary sense but ordinary in the sense of
“ordinalis,” the Latin word for numbered. These are
the Numbered Sundays, 33 of them, which witness to the original, basic
weekly Sunday celebration of the Paschal Mystery. Feasts of the saints
are sandwiched in between the Feasts and the Numbered Sundays. They proclaim
the work of Jesus in his followers and offer us an example of what it
means to be a disciple and an apostle.

There is not only room for more Feasts but
a great need for more Feasts. Most of all there is a need for more Jewish
Feasts. Christianity is not a new religion that started from scratch.
It is the Judaeo-Christian Religion, the completion of the Jewish religion.
When the Liturgical Year begins on the First Sunday of Advent a lot is
presumed from the Jewish Religion, and we should have Feasts celebrating
these events.

For example, we should have a Feast of Creation.
This is where it all begins. How relevant it would be for us today to
realize that God is the beginning of all things without God there is nothing.
This would be a death blow to secular humanism. How relevant also to realize
that man is the lord and steward of creation and will have to give an
account of his stewardship. He cannot pollute the air we have to breath,
the water we have to drink and the land we have to live on.

We should have a Feast of the Institution
of Marriage, between a man and a woman and celebrating the family as the
fundamental unit of society. Then a Feast of the Fall of Man. How relevant
it would be to factor Original Sin into all of our economic and political
plans. Other possibilities would be a Feast of Abraham, Our Father in
Faith, reminding us that no matter how impossible the situation may seem
“God will provide,” a Feast of The Exodus, reminding
us of the Sinai Covenant and the Ten Commandments, and a Feast of the
Passover Meal which was the occasion of the Institution of the Eucharist.

Thus, the expression Judaeo-Christian would
have greater significance. And converts from Judaism would not feel that
they have to give up their religion to become Gentiles but that they are
really coming home to the fullness and completion of Judaism because Jesus
is the glory of Israel. Shalom! Peace. “Do not be afraid.”